Fairy-Tale Love and The Reef

Abstract

E1 XQUISITE, Henry James christened The Reef (I9I2),1 and Edith Wharton's fourth full-length novel has remained his godchild ever since. Critics remark similarity between Wharton's entangled quadrangle of lovers and James's quartet in The Golden Bowl (I904), note that her manipulation of point of view compares favorably with his technical mastery, and conclude more often than not by looking for a Jamesian moral at center of her novel. The last is not easy. Although reader declares of The Reef that the moral is unmistakable: passion must be subordinated to duty in a stable society,' another maintains opposite: Anna's tragedy is that she cannot obey 'the voice of her heart' ; yet it is doubtful whether her career can be considered a tragedy. . . . The absence of a rich social background to give solidity to main themes makes us feel that . . . [they] are all rather preposterous.3 Similarly, Louis Auchincloss admits: It is a quiet, controlled, beautiful novel, but its theme has always struck me as faintly ridiculous.4 Most specific is Blake Nevius: Anna Leath is a Jamesian heroine in a Jamesian predicament but, whereas James's tone is seldom ambiguous, one has to grope . . . for Mrs. Wharton's intention, and book seems to promote a dubious morality.5 Existing readings thus endorse book's relative obscurity by finding The Reef artistically admirable but thematically conservative, somewhat ridiculous, and even morally questionable. In my opinion none of these charges applies, and I think interpretive confusion results from over-